Bird had never been much of a Herald, but then she'd never been much of anything. She watched the other Herald Trainees from across the field, half-hidden by the leaves of the tree she was leaning up against. The breeze carried muted echoes of the one-sided conversations taking place and she gave up trying to squash the flare of jealously, just for a moment. Taz had spoken to her just once, when she was chosen, in that resonating mindvoice that made you feel small and human. After that, the best they'd been able to do was a faint empathy, echoes of emotion that fluttered along the link. Like now. She ignored the disapproving snort from her Companion and continued sulking. Taz walked around the tree, using his rather immense bulk to shield the distant Heralds from her glare. The companion lowered his head so that they were roughly eye-to-eye and she could feel the ripples of frustration.

"I'm not going back, you can't make me." She tried to push him away, but he simply shifted his weight and flicked one ear back in amusement. "Why are you making me do this?" Her Gift was nothing in comparison to her yearmates. She could barely fetch a paper across the room, and nothing heavier than a pebble. Useless. Worthless. She pushed harder and Taz pushed right back.

Then the world fell out from under them...